1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mechanism for disengaging the gears in a planetary transmission mounted within a wheel hub for facilitating high speed movement of the vehicle on which the mechanism is mounted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,459,070 discloses a wheel drive mechanism which is useful for driving vehicles in a slow speed, high torque mode such as needed in many agricultural environments. The mechanism disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,459,070 patent requires partial disassembly to prepare the vehicle for high speed, over-the-highway movement; such disassembly is time consuming, requiring approximately five minutes per wheel, and because it entails total removal of a gear, exposes the mechanism to admission of deleterious matter, should the removed gear be dropped in sand or dirt.
There is a hub manufactured by Warn Industries of Kent, Washington which has a manually rotatable member of the wheel hub to disengage the wheel from the axle. Such hub is widely used in the front wheels of four wheel drive vehicles and, as far as is known, employs a clutch which is engaged or disengaged by rotation of such member.
A hub similar to the above noted Warn Hub is manufactured by Ford Motor Company of Dearborn, Mich., such hub having two members with cooperating protuberances which are moved axially with respect to one another to engage or disengage such protuberances.
A torque hub drive manufactured by Fairfield Manufacturing Company of Lafayette, Ind., includes a cover which is retained in place by headed bolts and which can be removed by removing the bolts and the cover, reinstalling the cover at a different position and reinstalling the headed bolts to retain the cover in the different position, all of which requires substantial time.